The Pets of 4.2: Turby’s Take

I hope everyone is having fun grinding the various dailies of the Firelands, be it trying to get run over by stray moose or slinging along a rag-tag gang of wayward druids to fight off the minions of the Firelord, we can definitely say that this artificual slowing down of content is..interesting no?

What do you think? Would you rather be able to grind grind grind and get to the end in three days, equip all your purchaseable epics and never look at Firelands again, or do you prefer this slower method? This phased approach shows us that there’s really nothing to “rush” about. You are going help with the battle in the Firelands anyways, and you know that once you are done with the Avengers of Hyjal you are probably going to get bored, start complaining, and bitch and moan about 4.3 and how it’ll make some drastic changes to your 4.2 experience right?

So why not take things in stride and enjoy (what little so far) has been offered?

Luckily for us hunters, we have much more to do than all those “other” folk. We have ten new beasts to tame, and as most of us have realized by now, most of these pets are heavily camped.

The Spiders – All Hunter Specs

Oh it’s a cruel world after all! Five awesome molten-glowy-rock spider pets have been added for you PVP hunters, however there is a twist: you must engage in pve-esque kiting (which is also a very PVP “skill”) or mechanics to tame them. I’m not going to list them here and describe them there are other much helpful and useful sites out there for that purpose. For all purposes and intent, Turby does not require a spider or any cunning pet at that. Solo PVE is fairly simple, and tougher mobs are “tanked” by a Tenacity pet and the Shale Spiders already have web-wrab to boot. They are definitely pretty so if I find a way to free up an extra slot in my stables (Olm the Wise might have to go home) I may attempt to tame one of the challenge spiders in the future. I currently have a red cinderweb whatever running with me as a filler pet. She’s pretty (weak).

The Gem Pets – All Hunter Specs

Two gem pets have been added, a cat more famously known as the Black Gem Cat of Storm Peaks and a black gemmed CRAB. Come on another special crab? I think the Ghostcrawler spirit beast should have been the one and only “special” crab. Then again, Tenacity pets got some loving for those of us who are getting bored with Terrorpene and want to whip out something else with an awesome new texture on it! Though I do have to ask, why are there two random gem “beasts” at Fireplume Peak and how come there aren’t other similar creatures nearby? And how do they even spawn on floating rocks? This goes against simple evolutionary and biological rules no?

The Spirit Beasts – BM Only

Three new spirit beasts have been added! I actually wanted to see more “other” Exotic beasts such as a new Corehound or a new Devilsaur. Perhaps in future patches when the designers decide to be a BIT more unique in their visuals. Of the three new spirit beasts, two are essentially Gondria but recolored. Whoopdeedoo, now you can collect Gondria’s siblings. Or parents. Or whoever they are. Of course these two spirit cats are also “challenge” tames where you must take off all your armor or they one shot you. That’s the excuse, it still doesn’t make up for the fact that they are Gondria clones. Long Live Gondria! Ok fine, perhaps those of you who don’t like Gondria’s purple shade would enjoy this “diversity”. Last but not least is the very first “Flying” spirit beast Ban’thalos. I am not sure if I should feel excited or disappointed as this is pretty much a reskin of Olm the Wise, with a bit of graphical flair for the wing-tips. So for those of us who would prefer to run with a flying Ferocity pet that isn’t an ugly Vulture or a Wasp then this pet is for you, regardless of its unoriginality!

So to sum it all up, the new spiders are nice but would you ever bring them to a dungeon or raid? No. Sorry for dismissing PVP so harshly but..yeah you’re dismissed. The gemmed beasts have no real context for where they are located and the crab (Karkin) feels like the they are shoving the idea of crab down our throats just a bit, but we do finally get a shot at taming a gemmed cat, despite it’s non-exotic status. As for the spirit cats, well….if you never got lucky at finding Gondria perhaps with the addition of two new clones you’ll finally be able to fight alongside a spirit sabre. Ban’thalos is neat, though we only wish that it had a more original skin, but I guess it’s flying status makes up for it (damn you guys are crafty!)